Royal Canadian Mint Opens plating facility expansion and Hieu C. Truong Centre of Excellence for Research and Development

WINNIPEG, June 13, 2013 /CNW/ -Todaythe Royal Canadian Mint officially opened its plating facility expansion
and the Hieu C. Truong Centre of Excellence for Research and
Development. The plating expansion will enable the Mint to increase
production of multi-ply plated steel blanks and other advanced plated
products by two billion pieces per year, while the Centre of
Excellence, which was named for one of the Mint's most celebrated
innovators, will ensure that the Corporation remains at the leading
edge of minting technology.

"The Royal Canadian Mint is known as both an innovator and
entrepreneurial leader in the international minting community," said
Shelly Glover, Member of Parliament for Saint Boniface and
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. "With this
significant investment in its Winnipeg operations, the Mint continues
to increase its international competitive advantage and as its
shareholder, our Government recognizes its endeavors as it expands to
pursue even more opportunities in the global marketplace."

"The Hieu C. Truong Centre of Excellence for Research and Development
will double the Mint's capacity to innovate and will open new and
exciting opportunities to market our proprietary technologies and
processes to the benefit of coin customers world-wide," said Ian E.
Bennett, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. "The expansion
of our state-of-the-art plating facility supports the growth of the
Mint's foreign business as a key priority as we pursue the objective to
own 15 percent of global market share by 2020."

Construction of the 70,000 square expansion began in the fall of 2011
and was led by PCL Constructors Canada Inc., working in conjunction
with an extensive network of suppliers and trade workers from
Winnipeg. Representing an investment of $60 million, the expansion
project generated over 130 local construction jobs in Winnipeg and the
Mint anticipates adding several additional positions to its permanent
workforce to operate the plating facility once it is fully operational.

To learn more about the Mint's commitment to research and development,
its multi-ply plated steel technology and foreign business, please see
the attached backgrounders.

About the Royal Canadian Mint
The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown Corporation responsible for the
minting and distribution of Canada's circulation coins. An ISO
9001-2008 certified company, the Mint is recognized as one of the
largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of
specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an
international scale. For more information on the Mint, its products and
services, visit www.mint.ca

Backgrounder

The Royal Canadian Mint's foreign business

In 1918, what was then the Canadian branch of Britain's Royal Mint
produced circulation coins for Jamaica. So began the first of many
contracts for international customers encompassing the full spectrum of
coin manufacturing and consulting services; from the production of
circulation numismatic coins; ready-to-strike blanks; medals,
medallions and tokens; to coin distribution management, marketing and
communications, and technology transfers. Today, the Royal Canadian
Mint's high volume manufacturing facility in Winnipeg has produced
circulation coins and blanks for over 75 countries since opening in
1976.

Under a specialized brand known as SMR&T, the Mint offers its
international customers a total coinage solution which is secure,
modern, resistant and made of the best technology available, such as
its industry-leading multi-ply plated steel (MPPS) technology and
advanced security features for circulation and bullion coinage. In
addition to marketing world-class coinage products in key markets such
as Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, South America and the
Caribbean, the Mint employs a world-wide sales network to actively
market its unique expertise by licensing technologies and processes,
developing foreign partnerships and providing a wide range of
consulting services.

The current 70,000 square foot expansion of the Mint's Winnipeg facility
will add new plating capacity to support growth anticipated from the
execution of foreign circulation coin contracts with customers from
dynamic economies seeking our advanced coinage solutions.The growth of the Mint's foreign business is a key priority as the
Corporation pursues its objective to own 15 percent of global market
share by 2020.

The addition of the permanent Hieu C. Truong Centre of Excellence for
Research and Development to this expanded facility will assist the Mint
and its technology partners test and introduce new circulation coin
engineering and manufacturing solutions which will continue to
distinguish the Mint as an innovator in a highly competitive field, as
well as enhance its coinage solution offering. Customers from all over
the world will be able to visit this facility to see samples of their
products manufactured to their exact specifications before scaling up
to full production. Training facilities will also help the Mint share
knowledge and technologies as it continues to diversify its suite of
coinage solutions for the global market.

Backgrounder

Multi-Ply Plated Steel Technology

Multi-Ply Plated Steel (MPPS) is a technology developed by the Royal
Canadian Mint. First introduced in 2000 on Canada's lower-value
circulation coins, this innovative process produces coins which are
more secure, visually appealing and durable. MPPS remains unchallenged
in today's marketplace in combining these benefits, which are currently
enjoyed by more than 30 different countries, including Singapore, the
UAE, Barbados, Ghana, Uganda, Panama, Papua New Guinea and Albania.

After years of proven performance, Canada's circulation coinage was
entirely converted to MPPS technology to include its high-value $1 and
$2 circulation coins in April 2012, as part of the Government of
Canada's drive to modernize Canada's entire currency system.

MPPS coins are composed of a sandwich-like core of steel, plated with
alternating layers of different metals such as copper, nickel or brass.
By plating the steel core with microns-thick alternating layers of
metals, the combination of different metal grains in these layers is
more resistant than any other plated or alloy coin in circulation
today. By controlling the thickness of each metal layer, one can
better control the electro-magnetic signature of each coin denomination
to greatly reduce the risk of fraud in a way alloy or mono-plated coins
cannot.

An electro-magnetic signature (EMS) is produced when a coin reflects a
wave emitted by a coin acceptance mechanism as it passes through a
vending machine or a parking meter. These machines recognize the
uniform pattern of these reflected waves as a "signature" of a specific
denomination from a given series of circulation coins. With MPPS
technology, each coin denomination in a series of circulation coins has
a specifically engineered composition of alternating metal layers,
giving each its own uniform EMS. The EMS is developed by varying the
plating thickness of the alternating metal layers covering the steel
core, which effectively distinguishes MPPS coins from counterfeits,
even if those are of similar size, shape or weight.

This production technique makes coins more secure for automatic coin
readers as MPPS coins are extremely reliable for authentication through
"automatic acceptance" coin readers in modern vending machines and
parking meters.

The Royal Canadian Mint's growing list of MPPS customers benefit from
this unique technology's superior flexibility to develop unique sets of
electromagnetic signatures for new circulation coins, which effectively
differentiate them from non-plated alloy coins of the same dimensions
and so greatly reduce coin-operated equipment exposure to the risk of
fraud.

Backgrounder

The Hieu C. Truong Centre of Excellence for Research & Development

The Royal Canadian Mint is a global leader in the art and science of
producing circulation and numismatic coins as well as bullion products,
a position established through its enduring commitment to the research
and development of unique products and technologies. The Mint has made
a long-term commitment to this strategic priority with an investment
that has grown from $800,000 in 2008 to more than $7 million in 2012.

R&D activities support the needs of the Mint's four business lines:
Numismatics & Collectibles; Bullion, Refinery & ETR; Canadian
Circulation; and Foreign Business. As such, the Centre of Excellence's
work is structured around two types of technology:

In Ottawa, advanced minting technology with a focus on surface
engineering, specialized engraving for numismatics, bullion and
refinery;

In Winnipeg, advanced circulation coinage technologies with a focus on
new multi-ply plating technology, new materials and high security
technologies for circulation coins.

The Mint works with several equipment suppliers such as SECO/WARWICK
Group;
TECA-Print USA; Signoptic Technologies SAS; FOBA Laser Marking +
Engraving Solutions; and ECONOMA Automation Technology to develop
technologies featured on tooling and finished products, which allows it
to create new revenue streams through royalties from the sale of the
technology and equipment. Partnerships with universities and research
institutes are another important aspect of the Mint's R&D program where
technological innovations are explored with respected academic partners
such as the Faculty of Engineering at the Manitoba Institute of
Materials at the University of Manitoba; Ottawa'sCarleton University;
the University of Ottawa; and Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

The newly expanded Winnipeg manufacturing facility is now home to a
full-time, state-of-the-art research and development centre which is
critical to expanding the Mint's competitive advantages by improving
the Mint's advanced plating technologies, enhancing the quality and
security features of circulation and numismatic coinage, as well as
developing new and more efficient processes.

Named after Dr. Hieu C. Truong, the Mint's new Centre of Excellence
recognizes the many diverse contributions of an acclaimed innovator
during his 35 year career at the Mint. He is the inventor of the
multi-ply plating process of copper and nickel on steel and has
directed various teams of engineers to develop hologram technology in
minting, 99.999% gold refining, laser virtual imaging, and many other
technologies which have made the Mint an undisputed leader for
engineering excellence in minting.

As the Hieu C. Truong Centre of Excellence becomes fully operational by
the end of 2013, the R&D team will recruit scientists, engineers and
technicians to staff a number of laboratories and facilities within a
5,000 sq. ft. space. This includes:

A New Technology Applications Laboratory (to prove out new technologies
such as improved high-speed coin colouring);

An Analytical and Physical Testing Laboratory (to test the composition
and physical characteristics of materials and their properties such as
electro-magnetic signature, and their hardness/durability);

A Security Features Advancements Laboratory (to enhance coin security
features such as micro-engraved laser marks, edge lettering and virtual
imaging); and

A Laboratory-Scale Plating Line (to permit more advanced investigation
of new plating materials and "live demonstrate" custom plating
applications to customers)

The training facility in the Hieu C. Truong Centre of Excellence will
allow the Foreign Business Line to deliver consulting, training and
other services to customers and partner mints, while a viewing gallery
will allow the Mint to demonstrate its full-scale plating line to its
many stakeholders and customers.